Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mousetrap
I once had to get rid of a lot of mice. Standard mouse traps were too messy to reuse, but too expensive just throw out. Have-a-heart traps were too finicky, and traps were too cruel. Finally, I found the proverbial better mouse trap: a wind-up repeating trap. No bait required. Just put it two inches from the wall and for some reason the mice climb right in. A spring loaded trap door flips them into a little chamber, and they call their friends to join them. One trap catches ten a night, and the mice don't seem to mind at all. The one I used is the Trap Man, sold as the Ketch-All in the US, but the Mouse Master looks like it may work just as well.
(Of course, it does leave you with the problem of what to do with a daily box of live mice.)
-- Danny Hillis
Ketch-All Multiple Catch Mousetrap
$13
From Cooperseeds, among other places
Manufactured by Kness Mfg.
Mouse Master available from Triton Pest Control
One mouse seen is many mice hidden. This is a pretty good tutorial on live mouse traps.
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adam r.
I read about this mouse trap on this web site, went out and bought it. I was really excited to deal with my mouse problem in a non-lethal manner. What most excited me was the multiple-catch capability. Out the trap went, and it worked really well. For a few months, I would make sure the spring was re-wound after every successful night's catch. We'd then take the mice to the park.
But then the spring started to weaken. Here's the problem with a weak spring: the mice enter the tunnel, it starts to rotate them into the holding box... but it's too slow. The mouse _almost_ escapes. And then you're part of a torture that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy: the mouse gets jammed between the sharp edge of the exit hole and the flip door - imagine closing your head in between the door jamb and the door of your house - and the door is pushing really hard. The mice die a slow, painful, PROLONGED death. It's like a glue trap.
I've got back to snap traps, at least they're quick. And reusable: lift the bar, out falls the mouse.
Maybe at one time these Ketch-Alls used better quality metals or parts, but it's not the case now. They're expensive, too.
Kevin Kelly
@Adam: You might try contacting the manufacturers about your weak spring. I would be surprised if they did not make it good.
adam r.
Thank you for the suggestion, I will contact them. It's easy to forget that companies should stand behind their products, but I'm happy to have been reminded of that fact. I'll post here with the results! Thanks - Adam